Are some Western politicians intellectual mediocrities?

Darusman Report and Channel 4:

Geoffrey Van Orden heading a group in the EU
Parliament said, “we regret that we are having this debate today. I
suspect that it has been prompted by extremist elements in the Tamil
diaspora - the same people who have helped to sustain the LTTE
terrorist campaign over many years, through political activities and
funding, often from the proceeds of crime. Instead of trying to
bring together the peoples of Sri Lanka, there are those that seek
to continue a campaign of hatred and division. They see this
Darusman Report as a weapon in this campaign and just want to put
the SL government in the dock. This approach is malicious and
counter productive.”

No island is an island and ours is no exception

No man is an island, they say. No island is an
island either in these globalized times. Indeed, it can be argued
that islands never existed and if they did their numbers were very
small. The reference is of course to human collectives and not land
masses surrounded by bodies of water. Complete isolation has always
been the exception.

Confusing war time and peace time

War is very complicated. On the contrary, peace
is very tranquil. War is like stirred water. Peace is just like a
motionless bluish water of a swimming pool. When the water is
stagnant the bottom of the pool can be seen. Even the fine points of
the pool can be seen. The situation in a country where peace
prevails is also similar to this. The country becomes sensitive to
even the tenuous issues.